Shloka 17
धृतराष्ट्र-सत्कारः तथा श्राद्ध-दाने नियमनम् | Honoring Dhṛtarāṣṭra and Regulating Śrāddha-Gifts
प्रियाण्येव तु कौरव्यो नाप्रियाणि कुरूद्गधह:
vaiśampāyana uvāca | priyāṇy eva tu kauravyo nāpriyāṇi kurūdgaḍhaḥ | viparītakaś ca me śatrur niyamyaś ca bhaven naraḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “Yudhiṣṭhira, the Kaurava, steadfast and firm in resolve, spoke only what was pleasing, not what was harsh or disagreeable. To me, the man who acts contrary is an enemy; but he who remains under discipline and obedience is to be regarded as a friend.” (Thus Yudhiṣṭhira, compassionate by nature, instructed his brothers and ministers to honor Dhṛtarāṣṭra as worthy of reverence, and to treat obedience to his command as a mark of loyalty.)
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
A ruler should cultivate disciplined speech—favoring what is beneficial and agreeable over harshness—and maintain social order by defining loyalty as obedience to rightful authority; deliberate contrariness becomes a breach of dharma and is treated as enmity.
Vaiśampāyana describes Yudhiṣṭhira’s gentle, principled governance: he instructs his circle that honoring and obeying the elder Dhṛtarāṣṭra is a duty, and that those who oppose this discipline are to be regarded as adversaries liable to punishment.